H.M. KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN TO LAUNCH "THE AMMAN MESSAGE" PEACE INITATIVE IN THE U.S. AT THE SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTER MUSEUM OF TOLERANCE IN LOS ANGELES

(Jerusalem) - His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan announced today to a 38-member leadership delegation from the Simon Wiesenthal Center his intention to launch the US leg of his initiative for peace, ‘The Amman Message,’ at the SWC’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles in the fall. The announcement was made to the delegation from the US and Europe at a ceremony in the Royal Palace during which the SWC presented the King with its 2005 Tolerance Award.

"We are recognizing King Abdullah for being a force for moderation and for his leadership in promoting peace and tolerance," stated Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading international Jewish human rights NGO. "His consistent repudiation of terrorism, anti-Semitism and extremism are critical in interfaith relations and in moving the Middle East peace process forward," he added.

King Abdullah is the second Muslim leader to receive this honor from the Wiesenthal Center. The first was his late father, King Hussein, who was given the award in 1995 when he visited the Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

"The Middle East lost two great men, King Hussein and Yitzhak Rabin," King Abdullah told the delegates in accepting the award. "With their vision, if they would have lived, we would have had peace. The late King wanted peace for his children, my generation, so I tried to bring my own initiative, ‘The Amman Message,’ to have the silent majority stand up against what is being done in the name of Islam. Enough is enough."

The King accepted the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s invitation to address American leaders at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, and announced, "In July, Muslim clerics will meet in Amman. We will then move to Europe and the US. I look forward to taking up your offer and to launch the US part of the outreach at your Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The late King set a high standard. The bar is high, we must meet the challenge. People like yourselves stand up and reach out."

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Susan Gopstein, Ruder Finn, Tel: 054-467 6964 or Dena Wimpfheimer Tel: 054-467-6982

Avra Shapiro, Director of Public Relations, Tel: 001-310-772-2458